Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: EC:3.4.22.62 (caspase-9)
 7,507 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

High amounts of nitric oxide (NO) produced by activated macrophages or NO donors are required to induce cytotoxicity and apoptosis in pathogens and tumor cells. High concentrations of NO may lead to nonspecific toxicity thereby limiting the use of NO donors in the treatment of cancer. In this study, we tested the possibility of potentiating the apoptotic action of NO in a human breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-468, by combining it with a farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI), which has been shown to induce apoptosis in some other cancer cell lines with minimal toxicity to normal cells. DETA-NONOate, a long acting NO donor which has a half-life of 20 h at 37 degrees C, was used in this study. DETA-NONOate (1 mM), which releases NO in the range produced by activated macrophages, induced apoptosis after 36 h in MDA-MB-468 cells via cytochrome c release and caspase-9 and -3 activation. FTI (25 microM) potentiated the action of lower concentrations of DETA-NONOate (25-100 microM) by inducing apoptosis in these cells within 24 h by increasing cytochrome c release and caspase-9 and -3 activation. This effect was observed preferentially in the cancer cell lines studied with no apoptosis induction in normal breast epithelial cells. This novel combination of FTI and NO may emerge as a promising approach for the treatment of breast cancer.
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PMID:Potentiation of nitric oxide-induced apoptosis of MDA-MB-468 cells by farnesyltransferase inhibitor: implications in breast cancer. 1140 40

We previously demonstrated that the combination of a farnesyltransferase inhibitor, manumycin A, and paclitaxel had a synergistic antineoplastic effect on anaplastic thyroid cancer. In this study we investigated the apoptosis pathway involved. In ARO and KAT-4 cells, manumycin- plus paclitaxel-induced DNA fragmentation was blocked by the inhibitors of caspase-9, caspase-8, and caspase-3. The drug combination enhanced the activation of caspase-9, caspase-8, and caspase-3 and cytochrome c release into the cytosol. Cytochrome c release was not affected by the inhibitors of caspase-9, caspase-8 and caspase-3. In a cell-free reconstitution assay, DNA fragmentation occurred after incubating nuclei purified from untreated KAT-4 cells with deoxy-ATP, exogenous cytochrome c and S-100 extracts from control KAT-4 cells, and also after incubation of purified KAT-4 nuclei with S-100 extracts from KAT-4 cells treated with manumycin-plus-paclitaxel. In both cases, the DNA fragmentation was blocked by the inhibitors of caspase-9, caspase-8 and caspase-3. We concluded that the cytochrome c release was upstream of the activation of caspase-9, caspase-8, and caspase-3 in the enhanced apoptosis of anaplastic thyroid cancer cells treated with manumycin plus paclitaxel, and that the interaction between manumycin and paclitaxel occurred at or upstream of cytochrome c in the apoptosis regulatory pathway in anaplastic thyroid cancer cells.
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PMID:Cytochrome c release is upstream to activation of caspase-9, caspase-8, and caspase-3 in the enhanced apoptosis of anaplastic thyroid cancer cells induced by manumycin and paclitaxel. 1160 May 33

Interactions between the Chk1 inhibitor UCN-01 and the farnesyltransferase inhibitor L744832 were examined in human leukemia cells. Combined exposure of U937 cells to subtoxic concentrations of UCN-01 and L744832 resulted in a dramatic increase in mitochondrial dysfunction, apoptosis, and loss of clonogenicity. Similar interactions were noted in other leukemia cells (HL-60, Raji, Jurkat) and primary acute myeloid leukemia (AML) blasts. Coadministration of L744832 blocked UCN-01-mediated phosphorylation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (MEK/ERK), leading to down-regulation of phospho-cyclic adenosine monophosphate responsive element-binding protein (phospho-CREB) and -p90(RSK) and activation of p34(cdc2) and stress-activated protein kinase/ERK kinase/c-Jun N-terminal kinase (SEK/JNK). Combined treatment also resulted in pronounced reductions in levels of phospho-Akt, -glycogen synthase kinase-3 (-GSK-3), -p70(S6K), -mammalian target of rapamycin (-mTOR), -forkhead transcription factor (-FKHR), -caspase-9, and -Bad. Ectopic expression of Bcl-2 or Bcl-xL but not dominant-negative caspase-8 blocked UCN-01/L744832-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis but did not prevent activation of p34(cdc2) and JNK or inactivation of MEK/ERK and Akt. Enforced expression of myristoylated Akt but not constitutively active MEK significantly attenuated UCN-01/L744832-induced apoptosis. However, dual transfection with Akt and MEK resulted in further protection from UCN-01/L744832-mediated lethality. Finally, down-regulation of JNK1 by siRNA significantly reduced the lethality of the UCN-01/L744832 regimen. Together, these findings suggest that farnesyltransferase inhibitors interrupt the cytoprotective Akt and MAPK pathways while reciprocally activating SAPK/JNK in leukemia cells exposed to UCN-01 and, in so doing, dramatically increase mitochondria-dependent apoptosis.
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PMID:Farnesyltransferase inhibitors interact synergistically with the Chk1 inhibitor UCN-01 to induce apoptosis in human leukemia cells through interruption of both Akt and MEK/ERK pathways and activation of SEK1/JNK. 1549 23

We have studied the mechanism of apoptosis elicited by the farnesyltransferase inhibitor (R)-7-cyano-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1-(1H-imidazol-4-ylmethyl)-3-(phenylmethyl)-4-(2-thienylsulfonyl)-1H-1,4-benzodiazepine (BMS-214662) in human myeloma cell lines. Low concentrations of BMS-214662 efficiently inhibited protein farnesylation but did not affect the activation of Akt. BMS-214662 treatment increased levels of the BH3-only protein PUMA; induced proapoptotic conformational changes of Bax and Bak; reduced Mcl-1 levels; caused mitochondrial transmembrane potential loss; induced cytochrome c release, caspase activation, apoptosis-inducing factor (AIF) nuclear translocation, and phosphatidylserine exposure; and allowed the development of apoptotic morphology. Western blot analysis of cell extracts revealed the activation of caspases 2, 3, 8, and 9 upon treatment with BMS-214662. The general caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-fmk significantly prevented BMS-214662-induced death in U266 and RPMI 8226 cells but not in NCI-H929 cells. A mixture of selective caspase inhibitors for caspases 9 [N-benzyloxycarbonyl-Leu-Glu-His-Asp-fluoromethyl ketone (Z-LEHD-fmk)], 3 (Z-DEVD-fmk), and 6 (Z-VEID-fmk) approached the protective effect of Z-VAD upon cell death. However, Z-VAD-fmk did not prevent BMS-214662-induced Bax and Bak activation and decrease of Mcl-1 levels. According to its effect on cell death, Z-VAD-fmk inhibited nuclear translocation of AIF in RPMI 8226 and U266 but not in NCI-H929 cells. These results suggest that apoptosis triggered by BMS-214662 is initiated by a PUMA/Bax/Bak/Mcl-1-dependent mechanism. In some cell lines, Bax/Bak activation is not sufficient per se to induce mitochondrial failure and release of apoptogenic proteins, and so caspases need to be activated to facilitate apoptosis. After DeltaPsi(m) loss, execution of apoptosis was performed in all cases by a cytochrome c-enabled, caspase-9-triggered, caspase cascade and the nuclear action of AIF.
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PMID:Farnesyltransferase inhibitor BMS-214662 induces apoptosis in myeloma cells through PUMA up-regulation, Bax and Bak activation, and Mcl-1 elimination. 1573 11

The mechanism of cytotoxicity of farnesyltransferase inhibitors is incompletely understood and seems to vary depending on the cell type. To identify potential determinants of sensitivity or resistance for study in the accompanying clinical trial (Witzig et al, page 4882), we examined the mechanism of cytotoxicity of tipifarnib in human lymphoid cell lines. Based on initial experiments showing that Jurkat variants lacking Fas-associated death domain or procaspase-8 undergo tipifarnib-induced apoptosis, whereas cells lacking caspase-9 or overexpressing Bcl-2 do not, we examined changes in Bcl-2 family members. Tipifarnib caused dose-dependent up-regulation of Bim in lymphoid cell lines (Jurkat, Molt3, H9, DoHH2, and RL) that undergo tipifarnib-induced apoptosis but not in lines (SKW6.4 and Hs445) that resist tipifarnib-induced apoptosis. Further analysis demonstrated that increased Bim levels reflect inhibition of signaling from c-Raf to MEK1/2 and ERK1/2. Additional experiments showed that down-regulation of the Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factor RasGRP1 diminished tipifarnib sensitivity, suggesting that H-Ras or N-Ras is a critical farnesylation target upstream of c-Raf in lymphoid cells. These results not only trace a pathway through c-Raf to Bim that contributes to tipifarnib cytotoxicity in human lymphoid cells but also identify potential determinants of sensitivity to this agent.
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PMID:Cytotoxicity of farnesyltransferase inhibitors in lymphoid cells mediated by MAPK pathway inhibition and Bim up-regulation. 2167 41

Manumycin is a natural, well-tolerated microbial metabolite and is regarded as a farnesyltransferase inhibitor. Some data suggest that manumycin inhibits proliferation of diverse cancer cells through various pathways. However, the antitumor effect of manumycin on colorectal cancer (CRC) remains unknown. In the present study, we investigated the antitumor effect of manumycin on CRC in vitro and in vivo. The results of cell viability assay revealed that the proliferation of the CRC cells was significantly inhibited by manumycin. Moreover, cell apoptosis induced by manumycin was also found in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Interestingly, treatment of the CRC cells with manumycin resulted in increased generation of reactive oxygen species. Subsequently, manumycin also decreased the phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) and AKT, as well as the expression of caspase-9 and poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) in a time-dependent manner. In addition, we found that N-acetyl-l-cysteine (NAC) attenuated the effect of manumycin on the PI3K-AKT pathway, and wortmannin reduced the effect of manumycin on caspase-9 and PARP expression. More importantly, the anticancer effect of manumycin was also observed in established tumor xenografts. Taken together, these findings supported the potential application of manumycin against colorectal carcinoma.
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PMID:Antitumor effect of manumycin on colorectal cancer cells by increasing the reactive oxygen species production and blocking PI3K-AKT pathway. 2730 47